Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: Sorry for the wait on this chapter! I've been low on motivation lately, but I wanted to get the next chapter up for my lovely reviewers who have been waiting :)
Chapter 26
News of the ex-Death Eater now Head Boy was spreading across the school like wildfire. Whispers followed Draco everywhere he went and he absolutely hated it. He hadn't wanted to accept the position, in fact he had refused it when McGonagall had first proposed it, however his mother had convinced him to take it.
She had told him that it was the perfect way to "restore the Malfoy name", like he gave a shit about that. The Malfoy name would never be restored; it was damaged beyond repair. But he had seen the impact being shunned by Wizarding society had on his mother and he knew it affected her terribly. So he would try to restore it… to some extent.
"Can't believe they appointed him as Head Boy." muttered a group of Hufflepuff girls as he passed them on his way to Potions.
Draco faltered in his step, ready to tell them off before Blaise grabbed his elbow, pulling him along. "It's the first week back mate, you can't let them get to you already."
Draco gritted his teeth, roughly pulling his arm out of Blaise's grasp. "Fuck this. Fuck Kingsley for making me come back."
Blaise smirked slightly. "I'm glad they made you come back. Don't know who I'd survive this year with if they didn't."
Draco glared at his one and only friend. Yes, friend. After the war and everything they had gone through, Draco had finally admitted to himself that Blaise was in fact his friend and not just a cronie like Crabbe and Goyle had been.
Crabbe… he thought, an uneasy feeling twisting in his stomach. The boy had been nothing more than a mindless sheep following Draco around all these years and he had tried to kill Hermione, but his death had saddened Draco. Because Crabbe's fate could have just as easily been Draco's…
Draco noticed a group of Slytherin boys up ahead, Theodore and Goyle being among them. He hadn't seen his fellow Slytherins since the war. "Oi, Malfoy!" called a sixth year boy.
Draco and Blaise approached the group, stopping before them. Draco eyed each of them, his usual mask of indifference in place.
"Head Boy, huh?" said Theodore, eyeing the pin on Draco's robes.
Draco raised a brow. "Obviously." he said rudely.
The rest of the boys chuckled, causing Theodore to scowl. "Well, I'm surprised they made you Head Boy. Didn't know ex-convicts were considered for the position." Theodore said, smirking slightly. The boys around them quieted down. "It's almost like you're one of them now, isn't it? Head Boy, cleared of all crimes, shacked up with Gryffindor princess and war heroine Hermione Granger,"
Draco clenched his fists as the boys let out low whistles. Were they questioning his power as the head of the Slytherin boys?
"One of them?" Draco repeated, stepping forward until he and Theodore stood face to face. "Let's not forget who we're talking to, Nott. Just last year you were all at my beck and call. I say jump, you lot ask how high." He hissed dangerously before rounding on the rest of the boys. "Don't let this shiny new badge make you all forget about the nice little mark on my arm and what exactly I can do." he continued, watching in satisfaction as all eyes drifted down to his covered forearm.
He hated the mark and everything it had resulted in, but he knew it was what would protect him in Slytherin house. "My father may still be in Azkaban, but I'm not. And I plan to restore the Malfoy name. You little boys won't do well disrespecting me and if you know what's good for you you'll recognize your places and stay out of my way."
Theodore swallowed, eyeing Draco up and down. Draco stared back at the boy, daring him or any of the others to challenge him further. After a minute of silence Theodore finally stepped back, creating some distance between him and Draco. Draco smirked.
"That's what I thought. See you around, boys." he said dryly, before turning and continuing on his way. He ignored the students around them who had stopped to hear the confrontation, annoyed that no one seemed to be able to mind their own business.
"Well, that's one way to mark your territory." said Blaise, smirking in amusement. Draco smirked back. Slytherin house and their loyalty towards him was one less thing off of Draco's mind now.
"Hermione!" Blaise suddenly called, and Draco froze, turning to stare at him in annoyance. Why the fuck was he calling her over?
Hermione stood up ahead outside of the Potions classroom, waiting with a few other students for Professor Slughorn to open up his classroom doors. She turned at the call of her name, a smile spreading across her face when her eyes fell on Blaise, and faltering as they shifted over to Draco.
"Fuck you, Blaise." muttered Draco as Hermione approached them. Blaise elbowed him in warning, closing the distance between him and Hermione.
Draco watched in jealousy as Hermione embraced Blaise in a hug, noticing the way her skirt hitched up slightly on her thighs as she reached up to hug the tall Italian. He forced his eyes away, instead glaring firmly at the closed Potions door.
"Nice to see you again." she said sweetly as they broke apart, her caramel eyes set firmly on Blaise.
"Congrats on making it as Head Girl. We all knew it'd be you." Blaise said, turning to Draco. "Two of my mates, Head Boy and Head Girl! This is great!" he said, oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation. Draco hadn't gotten around to telling Blaise about his and Hermione's confrontation yet.
"Yeah…" she said, glancing over at Draco quickly. Draco felt her gaze on him, though refused to acknowledge it. She had made herself very clear. She wanted nothing to do with him.
"Mind if I come by sometime to check out the Head's dorm? Draco here hasn't invited me yet." He nodded his head in Draco's direction.
"Um, yeah of course. Come by sometime this week! It's beautiful." she said, before glancing over her shoulder as Slughorn stepped out of the classroom, welcoming students in. "See you around, Blaise," she said, slipping into the classroom with a wave.
"Do you have to be so cozy?" Draco hissed as she left, shoving Blaise out of the way so he could head into the classroom first.
Blaise smirked at his friend's expense. "What? She saved my life back in the Room of Requirement and vouched for me when the Ministry started looking into my family after the war. We're good friends now." he shrugged. "Don't worry mate, I'll put in a good word for you,"
"Don't bother." Draco muttered, watching the curly haired witch sitting in the front row as he and Blaise took their seats in the back. "She's really done with me this time."
Blaise raised a brow in question and Draco scowled before he leaned in, filling Blaise in on what had happened between him and Hermione during their first night back.
Hermione sighed as she stepped into the Head's dorm that evening, eyeing the shattered shards of the mirror Draco had broken which now laid all over the floor. She raised her wand, flicking it and watching as the shards pieced themselves back together and floated back into the frame which hung on the wall.
She stared at herself in the reflection, biting her lip as she observed the dark bags under her eyes. She had been finding it impossible to sleep for more than a couple of hours at night. Her dreams were plagued by Bellatrix Lestrange, her parents, the friends she had lost in the war and Draco Malfoy. She couldn't stand it. Everytime she closed her eyes she was greeted by some torture or another, so she had decided to forego sleeping all together. Two or three hour naps were fine with her.
She turned away from the mirror, no longer wanting to see herself. She thought back to what she has said to Draco in this very common room and felt her stomach twist in guilt. She still wasn't sure if she had meant what she'd said… did she really hate him? Did she really wish him the worst? Should she apologize? Would he forgive her? Did she care if he forgave her or not? Her words had been so cruel… so cold…
She shook her head, trying not to overthink. She would leave things as they were for now… she would rather Draco think she hated him than know that she still loved him.
She frowned as she noticed a small envelope sitting on the side table by the couch in the common room. She picked up the envelope, her curiousity peaked as she noticed her name written across the front. She quickly tore apart the paper, taking in the familiar writing of the Wizarding private investigator she had hired with her winnings from the war in order to search for her parents while she attended Hogwarts. She unfolded the parchment with tense fingers and quickly began to read.
Miss Hermione Granger,
I regret to inform you that I have completed my search for Wendell and Jean Granger, now known in Muggle Australia as Richard and Emma Brown. On September 15, 1998 I discovered that both parties had been involved in a fatal car crash on the night of May 8, 1998. There were no survivors.
I hope that this news can give you some peace of mind and-
Hermione gasped, the letter falling from her hands and onto the stone floor. Her parents were dead. They had died while the Wizarding World had been celebrating the victory of the war. If she had only searched for them sooner…
She fell to her knees, her hands clutching her bruised and broken heart as a tear escaped her eye. Everything had gone wrong in her life. Where had it all began to go wrong?
She raised her knees to her chest and tilted her head to rest again them as she shut her eyes, letting the tears flow freely. She was done. She was just done with everything. Too much had happened to remain positive anymore. Too much had hurt her to act like she was okay. She wasn't okay. And after this devestating news, she couldn't pretend she was either.
Draco frowned as he noticed Hermione's absence from the Gryffindor table at dinner. Potter and Weasley sat amongst a large group of Gryffindor boys, laughing loudly amongst themselves as they ate. Draco sneered. Did they even notice that Hermione was missing? He quickly finished his food before standing, shouldering his school bag.
"Where you going, Draco?" asked a Slytherin boy sitting next to Blaise. "We thought you might want to come back to the common room, for old times sake."
Draco shook his head. "Maybe tomorrow." he said, ignoring the eyes on him as he headed out of the Great Hall and up to the Head's common room.
He immediately heard the sounds of quiet sniffles as he stepped into the room. He frowned in confusion, looking around until he spotted Hermione on the common room floor next to the table.
"Hermione?" he called, heading over and crouching next to her. She didn't raise her head from her knees and Draco was unsure as to whether or not she even heard him.
His silver eyes found the discarded piece of parchment by her feet and he picked it up, quickly skimming it over. He felt his stomach drop as he read the letter. Her parents were dead…
"I-I obliviated them during the war," she sniffled, watching him as he read. His head snapped up in surprise at her words. "To protect them. Because I knew… I knew they'd be targeted because of me. I thought…." She took a shuddering breath. "I thought I was protecting them."
Draco listened, unsure of what to say or do.
"After all that… they died in a muggle car crash." She let out a bitter, humourless laugh. "They died not knowing they had a daughter out there." Her voice broke at the end of her sentence.
Draco thought over her words. He had always assumed she had put her parents in hiding during the war, never would he have guessed she'd have obliviated them. She had obliviated them on her own… he knew that must have been hard to do. And now they were dead, and she was all alone.
Without a second thought he stood, placing the letter on the table next to them. He bent over, slipped one hand under her knees and the other behind her back. In one swift motion he lifted her up, heading up to his room. He was afraid she might push him away, hit him and curse him for touching her. But she didn't. She rested her head on his chest and he felt his crisp white school shirt dampen with her tears.
He pushed open his door and headed over to the bed, placing her gently on the bed and moving to push the sheets aside. He reached up to undo her tie, tossing it over his shoulder. Her shoes followed, and Draco forced himself not to make this about him. This was about her healing, her comfort. He kicked off his own shoes and ties before tucking himself in beside her.
She sniffled, turning her back to him. He reached out, hesitantly wrapping an arm around her middle and pulling her back so his front was pressed against her back. She tensed against him for a few seconds and Draco held his breath until she finally relaxed, curling herself into him. They fit each other like two pieces to a puzzle and Draco buried his nose in her hair from behind, relishing in her familiar scent.
"I've got you." he said quietly, half to himself and half to her.
She placed a hand on top of Draco's, squeezing it slightly before she turned so they faced one another. Draco stared into her tear filled caramel eyes, their noses nearly touching and held his breath. He hadn't been so close to her in over a year. He could count the freckles on her nose, he could see her dark eyelashes clumped up and wet with her tears. He could see the way her lip quivered as she cried. She was still the most beautiful witch he'd ever seen and he cursed himself for the infinite time for his past mistakes.
She slowly reached out, wrapped a small around his own middle and tilting her head to bury into his chest. He froze in shock at her warmth before he too leaned into her, holding each other for the rest of the night.
For the first time since they had met, it was Draco taking care of her. It was Draco providing her support and comfort in her time of grieving. And it felt perfect.
A/N: What do we think guys? Read and review please! Love hearing what you all think!
